


Family Found

by lasairfhiona



Series: Finding Love [7]
Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-26
Updated: 2010-11-26
Packaged: 2017-10-13 09:24:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/135718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/pseuds/lasairfhiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He was spending his days off and time after work fixing up a cottage"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Found

If you'd have told him a month ago about the turn his life would take he'd had laughed and said 'not possible' no matter how much he privately wanted it to be true. But then he saw her at a crime scene and his life suddenly took an immediate left turn and everything he'd wanted in the past once again became possible and then some. 

Now, here he was spending his days off and time after work fixing up a cottage he'd been planning to sell figuring he and Kyle didn't need a place like this for the two of them.  Kerri, however, had fallen in love with it the moment she saw it declaring it perfect for them and immediately began making plans to fix it up and make a home for them. It had a master bedroom suite that overlooked the beach with a big bathroom that included a Jacuzzi tub. There were two other bedrooms designated for Kyle, and Amy when she came to visit, on the other side of the large open kitchen, dining, living room area. Windows let the light in and gave it an open airy appearance.  During their four days a week together they split their time between their respective jobs and working with the contractors on the renovations. In the last month they had put in new windows, fixed the roof, installed all new cupboards and appliances, refinished the hard wood floors, redid all the plumbing and were now painting. With Kyle's help, they were spending every spare moment trying to get the major rooms finished so they could begin to move in when Kerri arrived the next day.  Working on the house with Kyle had it's own set of rewards, helping he and his son to grow even closer and cement their bond, making them even more of a family than they had been before.

Horatio put down the paintbrush and stepped back to look at the wall he just finished painting the cream colored base coat to the solid interior walls of the living room walls that Kerri had asked for. He knew she was planning to paint some kind of a mural to bring the outside in.  He'd seen sketches of beaches, rolling waves, sea birds, dune grasses and palm trees so he wasn't sure as to what exactly she had in mind but he was going to give her free rein. He remembered the murals she had painted back when she was in college. It made him smile to think of the fun they had back then as she painted the murals all those years ago and last week when they primered the walls. The similarities between the two times weren't lost on him. 

 _Horatio turned when he heard Kerri laughing.  "What?" he asked his hands on his hips._

 _"Your...  Your..." she tried to say but was laughing so hard she had tears running down her cheeks._

 _"Spit it out," he said with a smile, her laughter was infectious but he still wondered what was causing her to laugh so hard she couldn't talk.  Although considering the comedy of errors from the roller slipping accidentally painting the window and her 'oh crap", to the Windex whey were using to clean the windows falling out of the window into the hibiscus bush to any number of things could have sent her around the bend. They had already been accidentally getting paint on one another by not watching where they were walking or standing up at the wrong time._

 _"Your freckles have freckles," she was finally able to say after several failed attempts._

 _Horatio looked down and saw what she was talking about. His arms were spattered with paint speckles that stood out in contrast to his pale skin and the red hair covering his arms.  Now he understood her laughter a bit more.  The spatter from rolling the ceiling had left him speckled with white paint._

 _"Your hair," she said pointing to the top of his head. Walking closer, she reached out to his cheek, "and you have a streak here," she told him tracing the white line from where he must have absently rubbed his forehead.._

 _Horatio pulled back long enough to set the roller he'd been using in the pan and discretely place his palm in the white paint, before standing up and motioning her toward him._

 _"Horatio?" she said suspiciously. She didn't trust he wouldn't do 'something' to her to get even._

 _"You don’t trust me?" he asked with a pout as he showed her his unpainted hand, reaching behind her with the one that was covered with white primer._

 _"No...  I don't,' she answered with a laugh as he grabbed her backside and pulled her against his body._

 _"You shouldn't," he said with a grin as he brought his hand around and caressed her breast leaving another almost perfect handprint on her to match the one that now decorated her backside._

 _"Horatio!" she said when she looked down to see the hand print over her breast. She couldn't do anything else but laugh especially knowing she was sporting another handprint.  She knew he'd get her back even if the paint covering him was from his own doing, she'd laughed and that meant he'd pay her back._

 _Pushing her back until she was seated on the workbench, Horatio reached down and pulled her t-shirt up and over her head. Leaning down he kissed the top of her breasts before reaching around to undo the clasp of her bra._

 _While Horatio continued to kiss a trail across her chest, not quite laying her back on the bench, she dug into her pocket to pull something out then reached into his elastic waist shorts and cupped his growing erection and testicles.  Rolling and stroking him she knew just how much pressure to apply and how fast to go to bring him to the edge and tumble him over. The teeth marks on her shoulder told her just how off guard she'd caught him._

 _"You're a wicked woman," he told her when he caught his breath. Looking around he saw the small bottle of warming KY she'd set aside.  "Where did you have the lube hidden?"_

 _"My pocket," she said with a grin._

 _"You're sneaky..."_

 _"Learned from the best," she told him._

 _Horatio laughed as he picked her up and carried her into the room that would be their bedroom and the pile of blankets they had laid out there..._

Hearing his phone ring he rubbed his paint spattered hands on his cut offs and looked around trying to spot where he laid it last.  Finding it resting on a windowsill, he glanced at caller ID as he thumbed over the connect button. He recognized the New York area code and wondered who could be calling him.  He had all of Kerri's numbers programmed into his phone so he knew it wasn't her or Amy calling.  "Caine." 

 _Horatio, it's Mac Taylor.  Got a minute?"_

"Mac. What can I do for you?" he said leaning against the window frame and watching the wave roll up the beach. 

 _Know an Amy Reese?"_

"Not personally," Horatio answered.  He had yet to meet Kerri's daughter, they were waiting to get the cottage finished before having her come down for a visit and meet Horatio. "She's the daughter of someone important to me."  He wanted to nicely let Mac know that by default Amy would be important to him. "Why?" 

 _"She's an intern at the lab and dropped your name the other day and I was just wondering why."_

"Interesting..." Horatio said wondering why Amy would be dropping his name. "We've spoken on the phone but haven't actually met yet." 

 _"You'll like her when you do. She's got a good eye.  I'm planning to hire her as a member of my team once she graduates."_

"Her mother said something about Amy working at a lab.  I didn't realize she was working for you," Horatio said interrupting Mac. 

 _"I hired her as an intern because she was at the top of her class. As I'm sure you know from experience most interns no matter how good they are, can't handle the job. Not her.  She's got what it takes."_

Horatio laughed.  "Surprised you didn't she?" he said commented with a little bit of pride for the woman he loved heard Mac laugh through the phone lines. 

 _"Absolutely... Horatio can I ask you a personal question?"_

"Go ahead," Horatio said wondering what Mac could want to know. 

 _"Your relationship with Amy's mother. How long have you known her?"_

"This time around -- we've been together about a month," He answered as he started to walk around the room cleaning up as he went. 

 _"This time around?"_

"The first time I met Kerri was over twenty-five years ago. And we were together for 4 years." Now he was really curious as to why Mac would be asking this type of question. 

 _"Did you ever meet Amy's father?"_

"Once.  Before Kerri and Bill were married." Now he was as confused as he was curious. Why would Mac be asking questions about Amy's father? 

 _"Do you remember what he looked like?"_

"Mac, what's with all the questions?" he was tired of beating around the bush. 

 _"Because there is something about her and knowing you and looking at her, I would almost say she was your daughter. Could she be your daughter?"_

Horatio sat down on the work bench, sending the paintbrushes flying. That was the last thing he expected Mac to ask him. 

 _"Horatio?"_

"I'm here.  Give me a minute." He needed to think.  He needed to put together a mental timeline to see if Mac's suspicions were even a possibility.  "I don't know Mac, it's possible, but I can't believe Kerri would have kept it from me if Amy is my daughter.  She knows how much kids mean to me." 

 _"Sorry if I opened a can of worms.  Good Luck, my friend."_

Horatio said, "I know. Thanks, Mac." Before hanging up the phone.  He really wanted to believe Kerri wouldn't keep that kind of thing secret from him but the possibility of Amy being his daughter...

xoxoxoxo

"Horatio,"  Kerri called as she walked in to the cottage.  She'd received a text message from him saying to come there instead of the condo when she landed.

"Back here," he called from the bedroom.

Kerri walked to the back of the house toward the master bedroom.  Looking around it was obvious he'd been hard at work the three days she'd been gone but it didn't prepare her for what she saw when she walked into the master bedroom. Not only did the walls have their final coat of paint but also the bedroom set they had picked out was delivered, placed and made.  "You've been busy," she said with a smile walking up to where he was putting the final touches of paint on a spot where they repaired a hole in the wall.

"I figured you were more than ready to move out of the condo and the timing was perfect since they wanted to deliver the bed," he said as he reached out to pull her into his arms and missing when she side stepped him.

"More than ready," she confirmed, "but you aren't getting paint on these clothes," she threatened.

"Spoilsport," Horatio pouted, then pointed to the closet as he set the paintbrush down and put the lid back on the paint can. "There are some clothes for you in the closet.

Standing in the closet doors, Kerri pulled off her lightweight jacket, hanging it on the hanger Horatio handed to her. Unbuttoning her slacks, she let them drop to the floor as she stepped out of them then bent to pick them up.  Horatio's hand sliding up her ass told her she probably wouldn't be putting clothes back on anytime soon.  Deciding to 'play' with him a bit she slowly pulled the camisole over her head. Standing in her matching black bra and panties, she kept her back to Horatio as she folded it and put it on one of the bare shelves. As she reached around to undo her bra, his hands replaced hers.

Undoing the hooks, he shoved the straps from her shoulders and pulled her back against his body.  Because she kept her back to him she didn't realize he too had removed his clothes until she felt his nude body against hers.

"I've missed you," he whispered next to her ear

"I've missed you too," she said leaning back into his embrace and reaching behind her to hold on to his hip.

"Wanna break in the new bed?" he suggested, tightening his embrace and letting her feel what he presence did to him.

Kerri laughed and turned in his embrace. "Twenty-five years hasn't changed you much. You're still as bad as you were then," she teased.

"Only with you," he replied to her teasing.  "Only with you." Capturing her lips in a kiss he guided them back into the bedroom and to the bed.  When he felt the mattress hit the back of his knees he tumbled them down onto the bed with an "oof," as she landed on top of him.

Kerri rolled to the side laughing.  "We really should try to act our age.  We aren't twenty anymore."

"Where's the fun in that?" Horatio answered with a laugh as he pulled her onto the bed and rolled her under him.  Caressing her cheek, he placed a gentle kiss on her nose then forehead. Loving her had always been easy and she made it easy for him to loosen the grip on his tightly held control and be playful because she never judged him.

Reaching around him, she grabbed his butt and pulled him hard against her. 

"Impatient are we?" Horatio asked running his hand down her side.

"For you. Yes," she replied as she ran her hand back up his back and around his side to play with his nipples. Pinching it, she whispered against his lips, "Don't dilly-dally."

Taking her at her word, Horatio rolled slightly and sucked a nipple into his mouth as he reached between her legs.  He knew her.  He knew how to play her body. And he knew what would bring her the most pleasure.  With fingers and mouth he pushed her to the brink and as he felt her body tightening around her fingers he rolled between her legs and pushed inside her warm depths feeling her tighten around him as he did.

As soon as she felt Horatio slide into her, she wrapped her legs around his back, holding him in place.  She loved being filled by him.  She loved how their bodies seemed to have been made for one another as their curves fit together like two pieces of a puzzle coming together.

They rocked together, meeting each thrust of body and asking for more through touches and whispered words. Each touch, kiss and occasional bite to a shoulder brought them higher as they rode the waves of pleasure making love together created. And when it crashed over them they lay, Horatio supporting his weight on his elbows, still connected catching their breath.

When he softened and slipped from her body, Kerri sighed as Horatio rolled onto his back and pulled her over on him. She lay in her favourite position with her head on Horatio's shoulder, running her fingers along his chest while he played with the strands of her hair.

"Mac Taylor called me about Amy today," he said as he captured her hand and kissed her fingers.

"Why?" she asked raising up on her elbow to look down on him.

"She dropped my name in conversation and Mac wanted to connect the dots," he explained pulling one of her fingers into his mouth and swirling his tongue around it.

"What did you tell him?" she asked, her voice a little husky from Horatio sucking on her fingers.

"The truth, I told him about us," he answered then rolled them over so he could look down at her. "Mac said something that made me wonder something."

"What?" she asked wondering what could have been said to make him so serious looking.

"Is Amy my daughter?" he asked her straight forwardly because he didn't know any other way to ask her. 

"Oh Horatio," she said reaching up to caress his cheek before answering, "I wish she was but no, she isn't."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Oh..." he said as he rolled away from her and on his back with his arm thrown over his eyes.  "What Mac said...  Part of me hoped..."

Kerri rolled so she was lying on top of him. She moved his arm away from his eyes as she ran her fingers along his face.  "If Amy was your daughter, I would have left Bill, come back and fought for us.  I would never have kept that a secret from you.  You have to know that."

"I do," he assured her. "I know you'd have told me.  It's just that for that moment I hoped, wished, she was and there was something of what we felt for each other back then out there."

"I know..." she said softly.  "When I found out I was pregnant, I hoped for a long time she was yours but as the pregnancy progressed the timing was off and I knew she couldn't be.  Then I was looking at this little girl with big blue eyes and bright red curls and while my gut knew she couldn't be yours, my heart hoped and then broke that she wasn't.  Bill knew about you and was always jealous of our relationship so when Amy was a year old he demanded a paternity test.  Even after the test confirmed she was his daughter he always believed I had it rigged to say she was his and always treated her with such disdain."

"I'm sorry..." he said quietly as he settled her against him caressing her back.  "Amy should have had a father who loved her. No child deserves to be treated with contempt by a parent."

"No they don't," she echoed his sentiment as she kissed his chest.  She understood where his vehemence about protecting children came from.  "She never understood why Bill didn't like her until we moved to New York. She'd spent time in the city with my parents while they were still alive. I know my parents showed her pictures of our brownstone and my paintings and for all I know she may even have showed her pictures of us.  They always liked you."

"Did they ever tell you I would see them every now and again?"

"Yeah, they did which is why it made it so hard.  Although I don't know which was worse, knowing you were seeing them or when you disappeared."

"When did you tell her about us?"

"It was when we were unpacking and she asked about my locked trunk knowing it had to have something important because she'd heard Bill and I fighting about it.  For the first time since we were together I unlocked it for another person. "

"I remember that trunk," he told her.  "We put a lot of memories in there.  Our own little time capsule."

Kerri laughed. "We certainly did. One look at the pictures of you and me and she understood. She asked a lot of questions about us and I think after that day she had this secret fantasy the paternity test had been wrong and you were her father. There were times she would ask about you over the years and a couple years ago she insisted I put a picture of the two of us together that my parents took out."

"I would have loved to have been there for her," he said wistfully. "I can't tell you how many times I was in New York on business the last few years and yet we never saw one another."

"New York is a big city Horatio," Kerri interrupted.

"I know.  But tell me, do you still go to all the old places? I know I do when I'm in the city."

Kerri laughed, "Yeah," she admitted, "I do."

"Then we could have met,"

"Timing is everything, I guess," Kerri commented.

"I guess," he agreed a little sadly all the while wondering how many times he just missed her or had actually seen Amy.

"Horatio?" she questioned, running her hand down his chest.

Picking up her hand, he kissed her fingertips. "It's just that when I think about how much time we lost... I should have never let you go back then.  I should have fought for us to stay together." 

Kerri rolled until she was laying over him. "Don't. Don't dwell on what could have beens. What's that Jimmy Buffet song say, _'the time says now, the past is dead and gone, breathe in breathe out, move on'_ or something like that."

Reaching up, he caressed her cheek smiling at her habit of remembering song lyrics and using them to make a point, "Yeah...  I know..."

"You know, Amy graduates next week.  She wants you to come to the ceremony and has family tickets for you and Kyle. She said something about meeting her little brother.  Then the four of us can do the city together afterward,"

"I'd like that," Horatio said pulling Kerri tight against him.  He didn't know how to express what he was feeling.  That Amy wanted him to come to her graduation and take the place of her father.  He'd watched out over a lot of kids over the years that had passed through his hands so to speak and he'd been invited to birthdays and graduations but he was always a 'guest' never family to any of them.

Kerri knew he was sorting through some pretty heavy emotions so she simply shifted and laid her head on his shoulder, allowing him to hold her until he made sense of his feelings. He wasn't use to getting what he wanted when it came to his personal life.  His abusive childhood had set the tone for one failed relationship after another.  The fact he not only had a son but that her daughter was considering him a parental figure and his son, her brother was going to be a lot for him to work through.

He didn't know how long he laid there with her hand on his shoulder and his fingers lazily combing through his chest hair.  She was everything he'd ever wanted, then and now. It wasn't how he planned to do it but there would never be a better time.

With one hand he reached over to the bed stand and pulled the drawer open.  Feeling around he found what he was looking for and pulled it out.  Using the bed for leverage, he opened the box and pulled the ring out.  Kerri was half asleep so she never registered his movement as out of the ordinary. As many times as they slept together and he reached for his phone he knew she wouldn't be suspicious of his movements.

Taking the hand that hand been caressing his chest he kissed her fingers and awkwardly slipped the ring on her finger before she knew what he was doing.

"Horatio?" she questioned pulling her hand away from his as soon as she felt the cold metal. And then repeated, "Horatio?" when she saw the square cut diamond surrounded by sapphire baguettes.

"Marry me," he asked simply.  "Next week, in the back yard with the kids as our witnesses."

"Yes," she told him as he rolled them over and kissed her.

"I wanted to take you out for a romantic dinner and do it right..."

"No, Horatio, this is perfect," she interrupted before continuing, "I don't need romantic settings, I never have.  I just need you and our family," she told him, reaching up to cup his face with her hand before sinking her fingers in his thick hair and pulling him down for another kiss.

"Our family..." he repeated quietly.  "I like the sound of that," he admitted, kissing her again. Twenty some odd years later they were finally where they should be. Together. A family. It really didn't matter that the kids were his and hers instead of theirs. Because as much as he anticipated loving Amy simply because she was Kerri's daughter, he knew Kerri already adored Kyle.

"We should call Amy," Kerri suggested.

Horatio looked at his watch, "And Kyle will be here soon to help finishing moving some of the furniture out of the storage container."

"We'll have to get up and get dressed," she said sadly, she really was too comfortable to move.

"I guess the honeymoon is over," Horatio laughed swinging his feet off the bed, leaving her to stretch.

Kerri laughed as she got up and walked into his arms.

"Dad!  Kerri!"

"Back here, Kyle, we'll be out in a minute," Horatio called out in response as he pulled away and reached for his cutoffs.  "Is this what it's like? Being a normal family?" he asked turning to watch her pull on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Yeah...  Isn't it wonderful?" she answered, buttoning her shorts.

"Yeah..." Horatio answered holding his hand out for her to take.  "It is," he added as they walked out of the bedroom to join _their_  son and finish moving furniture into their new home.


End file.
